Paillard Maestrophone Stirling Hot Air Engine Phonograph Demonstration by Rene´ Rondeau

[RodPickett]

Paillard Maestrophone Stirling Hot Air Engine Phonograph

[melvind]

Wow, how many of these must have gone up in flames with spilled alcohol? Maybe not as scary as it looks, but seems it might have been quite dangerous in the wrong hands. A great demonstration of a very interesting machine. Ingenious. 

[Tinfoilphono]

Evidently many did catch fire. I know of a modern collector who turned away from his running machine just long enough to go to the front door to greet his mail carrier, only to find it on fire when he returned seconds later. Fortunately there was no serious damage but it was quite a scare. I've seen at least two machines that were entirely rebuilt, presumably because the original cabinets burned up.

 

These were designed so that the Stirling engine could be left running for hours, disengaged from the turntable. The phonograph could be instantly started whenever desired, and it never needed winding. But leaving it run unattended was obviously extremely risky.